Hello Spring

Be ready for sunshine and snapdragons by getting your patio furniture tip-top.

March 11, 2011|By Eloise DeHaan | Special to The Morning Call

As the days get longer, it¹s getting on time to pull the patio furniture out of storage and plant it next to the garden for the spring and summer. If it’s looking worn, you have a choice: refurbish or replace it.

Experts say well-made patio furniture can easily get a second chance at looking spiffy again. You can do the repairs yourself or hire someone to do it.

“If people are OK working with their hands, they probably can do a bit of restoration themselves,” says Dennis Elslager, co-owner with his wife Jennifer of Patio Furniture Rehab, of Mercer, Mercer County, on the state border with Ohio. His website sells products for restoration, such as pre-cut vinyl straps, fabric for slings (meaning it’s stretched between the furniture’s frames), and odd pieces such as plastic endpieces for legs and arms.

The company’s website (http://patiofurniturerehab.com/) includes 10 how-to videos and before-and-after pictures from customers who describe how they executed their fix-up projects.

Materials for repairing a one-piece chair sling can cost about $55, Elslager says, and fixing up a vinyl-strap chair might come in at $30.

If you want to repaint your patio furniture, Rust-Oleum is recommended by many experts.

“I always encourage people to do it themselves – you can save money,” says Patrick Foley, president of the company, which on its website (www.thesouthernco.net/) says it handles lawn furniture repair in a market that stretches from Virginia to Connecticut.

“But there comes a time when do-it-yourself reaches a point of no return. You can replace one or two straps, but if it needs paint, a lot of new straps, if it’s an iron piece that has rusted, you’re just putting a Band-Aid on the job.”

Foley is especially proud of the repainting his company does. The business, which is an authorized repair and warranty representative for the Brown Jordan, Tropitone, Woodard and Winston brands, removes the old paint down to the bare metal, welds any loose connection, applies a powder-based paint and bakes it in an oven until the paint is shiny and rock hard.

A chair redone completely, restrapped and repainted, might cost $155 at The Southern Co., while its new counterpart could cost $350, Foley says. A wrought iron love seat makeover that costs $295 could save buying a new one for upwards of $750, he says.

Furniture must be of high quality to justify repair. Signs of quality include not just sturdy arms, legs and backs, but support pieces that run between them. Full-circumference welds speak to conscientious manufacturing technique. And age is to be honored. “If your grandmother had it, you might be sick of sitting on it, but it’s well-made,” Foley says.

And laboring over a piece of patio furniture, rather than relaxing on it, is not for everyone. Sometimes the best idea is to buy new. There are options, from executing a quick fix to purchasing an inexpensive outdoor set.

For a quick makeover, consider replacing chair cushions. “With the measurements of cushions in hand, I would head over to Big Lots or Ollie’s [Bargain Outlet] before the season begins to see what they have,” says Shoshana Gosselin, interior decorator with Designs by Shoshana, of Breinigsville (www.loveyourroom.com). Besides those two discount stores, she says, other decently priced stores in the area include Walmart, Kmart, Target, Lowe’s and Home Depot.

For rock-bottom places for your bottom, a resin-plastic low-back chair by Adams Manufacturing, was for sale on Lowe’s Web site (www.lowes.com) for $9.98 in early March. It is UV (ultraviolet) protected to prevent fading.

Higher up the price scale is the Garden Treasures’ Lakeview collection, a popular five-piece set that includes a bar-height table and four chairs, retailing for $678, says Bobby Lloyd, assistant store manager of the Lowe’s in Whitehall. The glass-top table has a little tiling and a light that shines inside the glass. You can add an umbrella. “It’s for by the pool,” Lloyd says.

But you might want to go all out. After all, your time off is precious, you want to treat it well. Top-of-the-line cast aluminum patio sets can go for as much as $2,000, depending on how big the table is and how many chairs are purchased, says Terry Williams, patio furniture manager for Neighbors Home and Garden Center in Hellertown (www.neighborsgarden.com/).